Oregon Fans Reappraise Expectations, or NOT?

[30Duck]

On 9/8/2024 at 11:07 AM, Desert Duck said:

Good teams, that potentially could be great teams, somehow just find a way to win games they often have no business winning. I'm not saying that we had no business winning against 'the Idaho's,' but IMHO, we tried about as hard as possible to hand those games to them... and yet, we still won.

Thank you for writing this. The "no business" with Idaho is right, and I was thinking that Alabama under Saban often seemed to have a game that they pulled out at the end. This Ducks team "doesn't want Alabama" for a while. Yet there is something to be said for a team that gets the win, however ugly it is.

 

Hopefully by season's end these two W's will just be sums of the total, not representative of the play.

 

[The Kamikaze Kid]

By season's end, BSU could be an 11-1 playoff team so this win may look better in hindsight than it does right now. Once they get the O line figured out, I think the expected results  will start to come but it may take some time.

[JabbaNoBargain]

On 9/8/2024 at 11:10 AM, David Marsh said:

I disagree here. 

 

Linebackers in Lanning's defense aren't simply run pluggers but they need to cover in space as well. 

 

And in terms of coverage they did a fantastic job. Bassa had two deflections right over the middle that were also nearly interceptions. 

 

The linebackers also did a pretty good job running the Boise running back down when he was bouncing to the edges. Minus a couple of plays but he's a legit good running back. 

 

Devon Jackson also had an incredible play covering Boise State runningback Jeanty as he slipped out of the backfield as a receiver on a critical third down. He forced an incompletion. 

 

I think the linebackers did a great job showing off their required versatility. Even in the run game for much of the third and fourth quarters Jeanty was picking up barely any yards or was picking up some negative yardage. Just couldn't keep him contained forever. 

 

Especially when the offense didn't spend much time on the field. 

I think LBs are the key to run D and we just got trampled for 6.7 per carry. Awesome job covering space, but it’s a miracle to win giving up that average.

Edited September 8 by JabbaNoBargain

[Jon Joseph]

On 9/8/2024 at 5:56 PM, The Kamikaze Kid said:

By season's end, BSU could be an 11-1 playoff team so this win may look better in hindsight than it does right now. Once they get the O line figured out, I think the expected results  will start to come but it may take some time.

 

K, I'd say 12-1 and not necessarily the 12th seed behind several 2-loss P4 and possibly a 3-loss P4 team. I haven't seen a G5 team including Memphis and Tulane, certainly not Liberty, that I think would defeat the now 27th-ranked Boise. Stay healthy and the Broncos will give a 1st round opponent all it can handle.  

[KCDuck1]

On 9/8/2024 at 1:36 PM, JabbaNoBargain said:

JabbaNoBargain stated, "We had that game seemingly in hand until the offense fumbled twice in a row.

...survived a baptism by fire?"

"Special Teams - More action than last few seasons in one game. Won with a FG kicker."

"Gloom?"

"I keep saying “we’ll know after this week” and I’m saying it again."

  The offense must protect the ball and especially in the 4th QTR of a close game. Fumbling in 4th Qtr caused us to lose momentum and give hope to Boise State's team after we had just proved to them they would lose.
  Yes, that was a baptism of fire, and we almost burned ourselves at the stake.
  Special teams won that game for the Ducks! Special teams can be special this entire year! Each of those Special Teams TDs were Fightin' Duck back-breakers for Boise St.
  Gloom? Are you boo birds crazy or just spoiled? Any of our past teams would have graciously accepted that win, and been glad to get it. They would have despised the fumbles and sacks, but a win against BSU is a big win. Remember? We lost the first three of those Ducks-Boise St. games!
  Agree, we'll have a much better read after this next game. The fumbles, penalties, and O-Line must be fixed!

Noone can do crazy-stupid antics/mistakes like dropping the ball just as one crosses the goal line! Thanks to Limar for the recovery!

  VR,

KCDuck1 -- Win Ducks, Win!

 

On 9/8/2024 at 1:36 PM, JabbaNoBargain said:

•  
•  

 

[Cacker Guy]

Well, it's good to be undefeated, and there is a ton of potential to improve greatly.  But I have to say what I've seen so far is a lot of flash and very little substance.  We are pretty mediocre -- certainly not a top tier team.  Yet.

 

Some hope for the future:

 

1.  IMHO offensive lines are only as good as their weakest link.  Unfortunately right now we have a very weak link.  I think the OLine can improve a ton when they get healthy.  Will they?  I sure hope so (but I'm not very confident right now).

 

2.  Gabriel can grow to understand and direct the offense better.  Right now I don't see him making many checks.  I don't think we appreciated how great Bo Nix really was -- how well he changed plays and protections pre-snap.  He made everyone better -- he even made poor play calls into good ones.  I don't think DG will get that good (who can?), but he can improve. How fast can he improve in this area?  He has a long way to go and not very much time.  But it can happen.

 

3.  Leadership appears to me to be sorely lacking.  Will someone step up?  Bassa?  Gabriel?  That can happen as well.  However, it should already be in place by now...

Edited September 9 by Cacker Guy

[Mike West]

On 9/8/2024 at 11:10 AM, David Marsh said:

I disagree here. 

 

Linebackers in Lanning's defense aren't simply run pluggers but they need to cover in space as well. 

 

And in terms of coverage they did a fantastic job. Bassa had two deflections right over the middle that were also nearly interceptions. 

 

The linebackers also did a pretty good job running the Boise running back down when he was bouncing to the edges. Minus a couple of plays but he's a legit good running back. 

 

Devon Jackson also had an incredible play covering Boise State runningback Jeanty as he slipped out of the backfield as a receiver on a critical third down. He forced an incompletion. 

 

I think the linebackers did a great job showing off their required versatility. Even in the run game for much of the third and fourth quarters Jeanty was picking up barely any yards or was picking up some negative yardage. Just couldn't keep him contained forever. 

 

Especially when the offense didn't spend much time on the field. 

That's a pretty good observation David.  For me, it's the eye test.  In addition, you just don't see consistent shut down mode from that unit.  I've seen that routinely from the defense Lanning wants to mimic: Georgia.

 

Their linebacker unit simply dominates games. That's what I think of when I assess OBD's unit.  I believe you're correct though. They make their presence felt.  That's a start, and that's definitely a good thing.

[Haywarduck]

It seems there is a lot of talk about Smart, and Georgia, but are we going to be more like Dabo and Clemson? I know we want to win now, and climb out of the MariØ years as soon as possible, but.....

 

Might we be on a longer path to the top, or maybe just our own path? I tend to see more growing pains, but Lanning is headed in the right direction, just maybe not straight up.

 

Are our expectations based on another program, Georgia, Clemson, what Saban did? I tend to side with it being Lannings route, and a route that may have a few more bumps. Maybe I am wrong and the game this weekend will show the edge I would expect if we are to go straighter up.

 

Is there a program the Duck faithful most see Lanning building our Ducks like? 

[30Duck]

If there is a team that Lanning would use as a model, it is Georgia, and that is fine with me. But that will take time. If the Ducks had breezed through the first two games this season, not only Oregon fans feel the No.3 ranking was spot on, so would all the media types who saw this as Oregon's real chance to get the Natty.

 

Right now Georgia has supplanted Alabama, but it took a while. The likeliest team to knock Georgia down is Alabama. Oregon is recruiting better than it ever has, but not as good as Georgia and Alabama are. It won't be Sisyphus pushing the rock

 

 

to get to Georgia's level. Not just in recruiting but coaching overall. But Lanning has a plan and I'm in for the ride.